


Vexation

by BlueFlashbang



Series: The Nightshift [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Convenience Store, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Retail, Backstory, Boredom, Boss/Employee Relationship, F/F, Flashbacks, Fluff, Sleep Deprivation, probably a lot of flashbacks too, some of it anyway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2018-12-26 01:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12048483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueFlashbang/pseuds/BlueFlashbang
Summary: ‘Hello, my name is LAPIS’‘Hello, my name is PERIDOT’Those were the words inscribed on the two girls’ name tags so customers could be introduced to supposedly cheerful-looking workers. Ironically, they’d be workers who did not give a shit.Lapis and Peridot are the staff of a nighttime convenience store that work in chiefly customer service. As they cope with long hours of tedium and their own company, joined by customers who BARELY show up in the store every night, they try to make their time exciting by any means possible. Starting off with getting to work late for the 7th time in a row.





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: laptop is broken and all my files have been erased yesterday so I'm taking a bit of a break from writing this au until I could put the story back together again.
> 
> This chapter is pretty essential. It’s just interaction with lapis and peridot while they head to work and almost nothing eventful, I think. I tried coming up with the story for this fic for many weeks now, and I finally finished the first chapter after tackling through school stuff and other things first. And since this is my first series, this is going to be a lot more fun to write than my pervious fic to this one…  
> I hope you guys will really enjoy reading this and hopefully I’ll try to write and update as much as I can

_"Peridot, wake up..." ___  


Lapis barely gets up and whispers to her girlfriend while she taps her shoulder continually. Peridot whines irritated and squirms once while trying to fall back asleep, declining to get up and face the blue haired girl at all. But Lapis continued to poke her until she responded properly.

 _"Peridooot wake uup..."_ she spools her voice and signaled softly. She then went from tapping Peridot's arm and waist irritably to clutching her arm and shaking her a little rough right off the bat. Just a few instants later, the petite and weary blonde shakes her grasp away. 

She yawns. "Ungh...What time is it Lapis?". 

"Its somewhere passed midnight. We're gonna be late for work again." Lapis replies. "C'mon, we don't want to get in trouble." 

It's 12:10am. The bedroom, in addition to the whole apartment, reeks with paint, debris and wastefulness in general. Lapis crawls out of the bed and walks to get her uniform out of the closet. Subsequent, Peridot senses her absence and rouses up out of the blue, still feeling a bit unrested. She grabs her glasses off the cabinet beside the bed, rubbing her eyes before putting her visors on. As she was groaning and stirring herself awake, she felt like something wasn’t feeling precise. The current condition did not feel familiar to her personally.

"Uh…Were you...trying to wake me up?" she inquires. Lapis would never try to wake the blonde up. Not even during a work night. 

She looks back at her. "…Yeah. I was."

"Why?" Peri scratched the back of her head. 

Lapis squints a little. "Because you told me too...?" she replies. "Last afternoon you told me "Lapis, since we both have the same work schedule, we should probably wake up and go to work TOGETHER now" or something like that." she imitates. 

Regardless of their timetables being the same, one of them would tend to prepare ahead and go to work early, leaving the other to struggle and panic behind. It’d be clear on which one was which, and the reason why was because she wanted her partner to get more sleep than her. But she did not know that.

"Oh yeah...uh." Peridot says. "Sorry. I'm just used to waking up on my own since you constantly leave me here." 

"Well not anymore, Peri." Lapis replies. "If you want us to go to work together, then we're definitely going to work together. But you're still going to drive though." 

Peridot grins. She finally gets out of their bed and stretches a little, raising her arms up in the air and exhaling relaxingly. The petite girl walks to where Lapis was to also get ready her employee attire.  
"I think this is the first time I've seen you up this late, Laz." Peridot mentions and gapes at her still smiling.

Lapis chortles. "I guess I look a little messed up, don't I?"

"Nah, we both look messed up." Her puffy yellow mane was tussled by her blue haired partner.

 

10 MINUTES LATER

 

The only routine the two girls had to follow was this;  
Wake up,  
Put on some clothes and their uniform that etched their blandly red nametags; [Hello, my name is LAPIS] [Hello, my name is PERIDOT]  
Drink a glass of water,  
Head off to work. 

And what job on earth did they choose to stir themselves up in the middle of the evening? The staff of a convenience store during late night hours.  
It started off as a last minute option to earn some money for certain things. Apartment rent, meep morp materials, etc. It was Lapis' idea to get her first job at a nearby convenience store, but it was mostly recommended by one of her friends when it was told that she was looking for work. Sooner or later, she got her roommate Peridot into joining her so that the nights would be less secluded and boring. But because of their worry for each other, she gave her cautions on the sheer hell of customer service. She quickly and eagerly accepted it. 

“Are you sure you want to work with me? This is something you have to think twice about before saying yes, especially for someone busy like you.” Lapis asked that day. 

“Of course I do! I mean, it doesn’t seem so bad seeing that I’ll be with you, too anyway.” Peridot finalized a promise. 

Apparently it became a permanent part-time job for both of them since they found out that they couldn't resign. No one else wanted to stay up until 6 o'clock to sit behind a counter and restock food isles and stuff like that. So they stood with it, until it gradually became a one way ticket to tediousness and hell. 

Peridot and Lapis spent too much time at home getting ready. Though ironically, their aim at first was to get to the store in time. They went out of their apartment shortly and got in their vehicle which was a stale white pick-up truck they got after they sold their old car. Trucks were just their preferance of a vehicle, and Peridot would be the one behind the wheel driving and Lapis in the front seat beside her. The engine started stridently and was driven out of the parking lot, and a short-term drive to a narrow road begun.  
The lamp poses illuminating the empty roads at this hour were blinding the two girls a little, and the town was practically dead as there was no sign of any activity. 

"At least the sky is clear this time." Peridot remarks as she looked up while driving. "The stars are finally out."

"We could go star gazing later during our break if you want." Lapis suggests.

"That sounds good. But we don't have a telescope and our break is only 10 or 15 minutes." she answers. "Star gazing should be experienced for the whole night."

"We could still do it anyway."

A partly closed and silent plaza was up ahead. The only store open at this time was the convenience store. It glared grizzled lights that were even more blinding than the lamp posts, coming from inside and outside, and the whole store was as big as Lapis and Peridot's apartment. A marginally big sign on the roof reading "24 Hour Mini-Mart" also illumintated before them with neon blue and yellow lights. 

"They could've at least came up with a catchier name for this place." Both of them always thought. The blonde drove to the parking lot and took a spot that was a lot inches away from the store. Not like it mattered anyway. The engine was turned off and they opened their doors. They just had to walk to the store next. 

"This still feels weird." Peridot expresses discreetly.

"Why so?" Lapis asks.

"Well, this isn't like my normal routine. I'm used to rushing to the store on my own and now...I got company with me."

Lapis breathes heavily but amiable. This was beginning to feel irrational to respite by some means. She makes both of them halt for a second and lays her hand on short girl's shoulder, making them gawk at each other as well.  
"Look, Peridot, you don't have to feel like this is unnatural." she says. "It was your idea that we go to work at the same time. I didn't expect you'd complain a lot about it."

"I'm not complaining. I’m just...ugh…" Peridot says affronted and faces downwards. She really had no idea how to express that she actually esteemed her roommate’s closeness while walking to work together for the first time. For the moment, she decided she was just going to keep that aside. "I-I'll just...stop talking for now."

Lapis merely grins and chortles soundlessly. "Okay, let’s go." 

They walk to their way to the door at last. The evoked and usual ‘We're Open’ sign was right at their faces. Lapis halts and grabs the entrance handle, pushing it open and posturing like a distinguished doorman. "After you, Peri” she says. “I wouldn't want you pushing the door too hard and hurting someone again." she was referring to an incident where she was knocked out by a door pushed too hard by the petite girl.

Peridot laughs fretful. "Yeah. I guess I'll just go in..." she ambles swiftly to some degree through the door and is followed by Lapis. The entrance casually shuts closed, and the sounds of vents, running coolers, as well as other white noises were encasing the ambiance of the store. It was a familiar and underwhelming setting. The two girls were about to head across the counter and proceed with the usual customer service career. "Alright...Let's get to w¬–––" Peridot mentions before they both halt and shudder.

Somehow shorn of perceiving after they have walked in, they were faced a suited, slim woman with short rose hair. AKA, the manager.  
Their boss was leaning against her office door with her arms crossed and an impatient expression, staring cold right at them. Peridot and Lapis respired perplexed and sheepish as this would be a certain moment that they'll either be given a warning, or as unforeseen, getting fired.  
"–––WOAH uh...Hey, Pearl..." Lapis says with fault in her tone. Her along with Peridot's appearance were gracelessly writhed. "What are ya doing out here...?"

Pearl sighed visibly upset. "I was waiting for you two...For 12 minutes, and for the 7th time this week." A clipboard holding a few employee records was also grasped in her hand and immediately goes to write some new things down. "This has been happening frequently with you girls and it's starting to seriously get on my nerves." She stops writing and massages her head.

‘Manager Pearl’ was apparently the friend who recommended Lapis to work in the store. What they weren't aware of at the time was the consequences of them working TOGETHER. There was a side of Pearl that Lapis and Peridot did not know and were intimidated by, and there was a chunk of the two girl's personality that Pearl was distasteful around.  
Outside of work, Pearl was garrulous, tuneful, and exceptionally lovely to all her friends. Peridot and Lapis were very productive when it came to their passions and were good at wasting time on a day to day basis. That all changed a little when they started working together, realizing that Pearl was incredibly strict and bossy, and Lapis and Peridot were easily jaded people.

"Look, Pearl, we were really going to come to work early this time but we had to delay a bit back in our home because..." Peridot tried to explain.

"I don't want to hear it Peridot." Pearl says lightly. She withdraws her clipboard and stares at them disappointedly. "I'm sorry you two but...If you keep this up I'm going to have to replace you soon."

They both widened their eyes in realized shock. "You mean you're going to fire us?" Lapis asks hesitant. Pearl answers back with a nod.  
"But...you can't do that...!" the blue haired speaks ahead without thinking.

"And why is that, Lapis?" Pearl asks.

Peridot goes ahead to defend Lapis’ protest. "Well...It's not like this is a busy store. Not many people come here at this time, Pearl....Ma'am." she implies. 

"Yeah. It's basically a waste of time too since we wait for a like a whole hour for that door to open." Lapis adds.

"And besides, no one else wants to get a job here, and you can't force anyone to be hired either so..."

"Alright I get it!" Pearl exclaims. "You two obviously have a lot to criticize about your work hours and our store, but I'm the one in charge around here, and I decide what’s okay for all of us. And since you recklessly still want your jobs for some reason, this will be your last warning." the two girls sigh noiselessly. 

Pearl opens the door to her small office and takes one final look at her co-workers. "Oh, and one last thing…Don't do anything foolish, and make sure you satisfy every customer's needs." she says lightly. They both agree mildly peeved since they have to take note of that every week. Pearl finally closes the door and retreats to her own work. The only thing left to see was the cheap plaque the read ‘Manager’s office’.  
Meanwhile, Lapis and Peridot were head off to their retail positions and begin the nightshift. 

The nerd took charge of cashier and counter duty. Meanwhile, her girlfriend needed to re-stock an isle or freezer with stuff that had either expired products or lack of anything. 

"I'm going to head to the back and see if there's any more bags of those Chaps stuff.” Lapis proclaims.

"And I'll try to make us some more coffee to keep us awake." Peridot says and transfers to the cappuccino machine which was left of the counter. She prepared two middling cups and waited for the drinks to be brewed. But before the blue haired girl stepped into the back of the store, a question popped into her head and needed Lapis to answer it.

"Hey, Lapis, why do we still keep this job anyway?" she asks curiously.

"We're broke, Peri." she simply answers back. "And I don't think anyone else would want to hire people like us at the moment, let alone look at our resumes."


	2. Can I help you...?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first two customers of the convenience store come in. One is an affable and familiar customer while another is the one of the two girls’ bane during work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AFTER SO MANY WEEKS OF ABSENCE AND A REPAIRING LAPTOP, I FINALLY STOLE THE TIME TO POLISH A TAD AND PUBLISH THIS CHAPTER!!! It was sort of a fun write and I hope you guys enjoy this one. I lost track on how many weeks/months is has been.

12:35AM

The sound of a petite bell chimed as the entrance of the store opens. Somebody was coming in. And thankfully, it was someone that Peridot and Lapis knew.  
The first customer of the night was a kid who looked around 10 or 14 years old. A description of him as perceived by everyone who knew him especially Pearl, Peridot and Lapis would be optimistic, lyrical, and overall expressive. But mainly, he was the best friend of Lapis and Peridot, as well as Peridot’s little brother figure. 

The child patron walks in with a yellow star imprinted on his pink shirt as well as wearing a thick peach jacket.  
“Hey guys!” the young-looking customer calls gleefully as soon as he walks in. “How are my two favorite buds and evening co-workers doing?” 

Lapis glimpses out of an aisle to see him. “Oh. Hey, Steven.” Lapis replies contented. “We’re doing fine I guess.”

Steven halts and turns his sight to the counter. He sees Peridot, drained and resting her head and arms on the countertop. She seemed to have passed out irresponsibly during work hours, despite how there was a half-drank cup of coffee by her hand which was obviously consumed by her.

“Morning, Peridot.” Steven says. The short girl whirrs and raises her head slightly. 

“Oh, uh, good morning to you too, Steven…” she yawns and runs her hand through her hair. She struggles to fix her posture while sitting up or keep a stern face. “…How can I help you…?” 

Steven chuckles to her rest deficiency as he assumes that one of his best friends wasn’t being focused at all to her time management like always. “Its fine, Peridot, you can go back to your nap. I’m just here to see if there are any more Cookie Cats tonight.” 

Lapis finally walks out of the aisle and ambles by the counter near Peri. “Why don’t you get some by that big donut place?” she asks. 

“Well, the Big Donut always closes after 8pm. And this is the only store I know that still sells cookie cats.” Steven replies. “And besides, you guys are here. It’s always nice to see how both of you are doing.”  
“Aww.” The two girls grin. 

Lapis guises to her left, athwart the room where a petite freezer filled with ice cream sandwich packets were placed on another counter. “Luckily, I found and restocked a fresh batch of them a few minutes ago. Just don’t try to take the whole freezer.” She says. 

Steven chuckles and goes to take a dozen of his favorite cold snacks. Probably 3 or 5 to count. He carries them to Peridot’s counter and dribs them lightly on top, and she proceeds to grab the price checker to estimate the price. Normal retail stuff was happening basically. 

“That’ll be 5 dollars, Steven.” Peridot says. The star shirted customer follows and pays up. “Also, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you always up this late? Shouldn’t it be a school night for you?” she also inquires him.

The payment is put in the register before Steven could think on how to answer that question. “Hmm...Well, I don’t go to school since my dad and Pearl say I could get bullied. So I’m homeschooled by them sometimes. Dad teaches me about weird dad stuff and Pearl teaches things like history and table manners.” Steven says. “But I am going to enroll in the school that my friend Connie goes to so we could study together. OH WAIT–––Is Pearl here? I should probably tell her that.” 

One of them would happily call Pearl outside her office just for Steven to meet, but they guess they would rather not confront their manager again after recognizing her frustration. Pearl would probably castoff what they have to say and be ordered to go back to work before even stepping out of her small workspace. 

“Uh…She hasn’t arrived here yet.” Lapis recoils. “Sorry Steven.” 

Peridot puts the heaps of cookie cats into a light-green plastic bag, generally used in the store and hands it over to Steven. “Here ya go. And have a good night.”

“You know, Peridot, I don’t think you should be up this late either.” Steven says flippantly as he grabs his bag and receipt . “You look…tired.”

The petite employee rubs her eyes and slouches forward. “I look great.” Her hair is skirmished by her chortling partner. 

Steven then paces to the exit door reaches it to open it widely. But before he leaves, he gapes back at the counter and glances at his two best friends just to say an elated “Goodbye you guys!” Lapis and Peridot wave grinning and also express a farewell. “See you again Steven!”

The acquitted kid ambles out and a bell chimes again as the exit closes. The store was back to stillness and solitude despite the fact there were two employees to keep that happening for themselves.

“So…what now?” Lapis asks. 

 

1:15AM

Well, as expected at this point, the store was more dead silent than outside, more empty than outside and extremely lethargic so to speak. Peridot had been standing and, or sitting by the counter while staring at the glass entrance and trying to wait for ANYBODY to come in. As for Lapis, she basically seemed like she was loitering inside the store. With a setting like this, they didn't need much of a break time since they were barely working at all.  
Peridot sighs heavily and rests her arms and chin on the counter yet again. All the energy left to keep her active by the cashier was wasted. Lapis sees the sluggish behavior of her partner and goes to walk behind the board. She leans towards the petite employee and parcels herself gently on top of Peridot, incasing her waist around her arms and practically begins to bask on her. 

They both groan slothful and warm.  
"Why does time have to run slowly on us Lapis...?" Peridot complains.  
"It could be worse..." Lapis denotes.

Suddenly, the sound of a tiny bell rings for a second time. The two girls gasp and get up gradually to go back to their positions. Peridot standing up now and Lapis sited near a metal shelf. A completely random customer had shown up to either boost the mood of customer service or makes their jobs harder than it looks. But this particular customer looked a bit intriguing and pretty absurd, and Lapis and Peridot gave a clear expression saying 'what the hell?' and 'who the hell?'  
It was a cumbersome man with blonde and much coiled hair, wearing a grey camouflage getup and a pair of binoculars around his neck. As he walked in, he appeared to be crouching and turning his head slowly as if he was being watchful from nonexistent entities inside the store. Even his eyes were squinting hard and his fingers were twitching. This person must have some sort of illness.

"…May I help you...?" Peridot asks nervously.

Suddenly, the customer glances to the cashier and gives a frightening direct stare at Peridot, immediately scaring her to some extent. “he isn’t going to mug me, is he…?”  
The customer speaks at last. "Hmm...Why yes." He stands normally and adjusts his glasses. "I guess you can help by answering this question...Are you aware of ‘Rock People’ hiding and lurking in our social order and attacking our city?" he says stormed.  
Absurd enough already. 

"Uhh. What...?" Lapis asks muddled.

"Well you see, I run a blog called ‘Keep Beach City Weird’ where I talk about all the weird stuff happening in my town of ‘Beach City’. I also made a web-exclusive documentary called "Rising Tides, Crashing skies" and I boldly explained the existence of Rock People as well as putting real recorded clips of them attacking our town." 

Lapis and Peridot have actually seen that documentary before. Steven showed it to them a few months ago when he last visited and they had to give their opinions on it until the end. And well...it was confusing, poorly edited, pathetically produced, and overall cringy. And most of the 'real recorded clips' was too hard to view anyway due to dark lighting and a shaky camera. They were surprised yet assured that Steven was the only one who ever viewed it and actually left a positive review.  
Apparently, the customer they were faced with was Ronaldo Fryman, a fanatical blogger and surprisingly bigger, more obnoxious dork than Peridot. And judging from his behavior in his documentary and now, they were going to have a hell of a time trying to satisfy this guy's needs.

Ronaldo continued to talk. "I've been tracking their whereabouts for the past month and I found that one of their possible hiding spots is in this very location." he says. “I suppose this is just an ordinary convenience store located in a deserted plaza. But rock people have been known to terraform, or in this case ‘shapeshift’ themselves and everything they touch…”

"Is that so..." Peridot replies sarcastically.

The fervent chatter mouth suddenly hushes and gapes at Peridot unnervingly again. Only this time, he quickly grasses up to the cashier and smacks the counter with his palms. He hums, inspecting the petite employee’s appearance with his eyes. It was enough to make Peridot clearly terrified and Lapis triggered. 

“How do I know you aren’t one of them now? Rock people are known to shapeshift. And if you are one of them, you’re doing a terrible job at it…” he says. “No human could possibly have that kind of outrageous hair and be this absurdly short…” he couriers his inspection to Peridot rudely.

“Hey!” 

Even though their customer has only been in the store for less than 30 seconds, Lapis wanted him to get out of here quickly since nothing he has said sounded remotely fascinating to her nor Peridot. 

“I don’t mean to interrupt but…” in actuality, she did. “Are you going to get something and leave or are you just going to mess with us with your nonsense?”

Now Ronaldo switches his gawp to the blue haired girl and paces outwards from the counter. Lapis isn’t intimidated or dreaded by the coiled blonde’s stature, but appearing more like she’s trying to stretch those emotions to him instead. 

“Maybe you’re one of them, too…There’s no way someone’s hair can be that shade of blue and poofy at the same time.” he assumes to her. “It seems to me that you rock people are becoming more pathetic when it comes to changing your manes.”

Lapis inhales heavily. “Ever heard of hair dye…?” she thinks. “I don’t think any human either could have hair that looks like curly fries spilling out of a smokescreen hat…”

Insulting employees in a store such as this one right now is certainly an offense to customer responsibilities. But according to the rules, Ronaldo can’t be bleakly kicked out or get arrested unless he became physically offensive. For now, they were just going to have to wait until he actually got something and leave for good. 

Apparently phase 1 of his crap was on its way to phase 2.  
“THIS IS A HUB FOR ROCK PEOPLE!” he exclaims his entitlement suddenly and raises a finger up. “THERE’S NO DENYING IT!”

“Dumbass, this is a convenience store.” Peridot says intentionally arduous. “And please don’t shout or you’ll call our boss out here.”

“And by ‘boss’, you mean your invasion commander.”  
Lapis takes an exasperating heavy breath once more. 

Ronaldo ambles toward a random shelf holding snacks that Lapis replenished an hour ago. He examines it carefully yet poorly, fondling his chin, and alarming Lapis and Peridot as they wonder what he was trying to do or say next. 

“I bet this isn’t even a real shelf…” he says. At that moment, he lays his palm on the top of the ledge and grips it somewhat hard. “This is some kind of switch that reveals the true appearance of your LAIR!”

The shelf was forcefully pushed down by the coiled hair nuisance and crashes to the floor. Ronaldo was expecting an alteration of scenery in the store to reveal some kind of wicked den. But instead, he just caused an earsplitting mess, probably some collateral damage, and nearly harming Lapis who was standing in front of the impairment. The senseless act immediately triggered the two employees into anger. 

“Oh come on! I just finished filling that up a while ago.” Lapis shouts aggressively. “What the hell is your problem?!”  
All at once, Peridot rushes out of the cashier and strides to Lapis so she could grasp her arm tightly and initiate trying to protect her. “You need to leave, now!” she says irately. 

Ronaldo takes a second to quickly figure out and glance on what he has committed. Bags of chips and other snack assortments were dispersed wretchedly and lots of them crushed underneath the now wrecked shelf. But he doesn’t hesitate to say another word. 

“Uh…” tenseness was in his tone while he seemed to be drenched. “I’m sure your lair’s transformation takes a while to do…Any second now…”

Nothing happened. 

“Okay maybe that was too big to be the switch.” Ronaldo detects. “…But I think I know another possibility!”

The employees creak and watch him in spleen concern as Ronaldo hastes to the counter and grasps for the novelty glasses stand. And right off the bat, he bashes the stand off the top and sees it strike the ground, making another unwanted mess as glasses were now strewn. “Here goes nothing!”

*SMASH*

Alas, still nothing happened. Ronaldo was groaning oddly on when the so-called transformation of the room might happen. The switch could be anywhere, he believed. The next thing he was most likely to hit was the soda machine inches away. Hence he goes forth. “Of course! This time I–––“

But Lapis finally snaps as her undersized temper was torn open. “Augh. That’s it…!” she exclaims. Peridot’s grip on her arm was loosened quickly and she clenches Ronaldo’s torso before he could even touch the soda machine, pulling him hazardously close and shifting her expression to become fiercer. The two people around her begin to feel frantic.

 

“Now listen…” Lapis utters. “You’ve only been here for 2 minutes and yet somehow, you’re already an obnoxious pain for me and my girlfriend to do our jobs. And I don’t wake up in the middle of the night just to come here and see this place getting trashed so I could clean it again later…” She points out patently forceful. “Also, whatever ‘rock people’ are, they sure as hell aren’t here and we aren’t them, so you’re just a lunatic. And I suggest you grab something, get the fuck out, and have a good night…” she finishes with a striking tone of rage and her grip on his torso becomes sorer. 

Peridot listens to her gruff honesty next to her. She felt her face warming up, consequently realizing she was blushing by some means. She never had to see Lapis so angry before other than a few moments where she was mad at HER, and at this moment now. “Damn, Lazuli.” She thinks. 

Lapis’ unswerving glare through Fryman’s glasses made him suddenly frightened and mumbled with fear. He writhed, inaudibly begging her to be let go off. So the blue haired girl lets go and watches the customer take a couple of breaths. 

“Okay then…” he utters and then coughs a little. “This is not a rock person hub. Maybe my maps back in my lighthouse was scattered…”  
Ronaldo then grabs a nearby and furrowed nacho chip bag. “I guess I’ll just take this to go…”

Lapis looks back at her partner and signals her to rush to the counter. “Peridot…” she says mollified.  
“Yeah, I’m on it.” She replies. Peridot takes the snack out of the customer’s hand and checks it on the counter in seconds. Ronaldo pays for it and then shoves it under his concealment suit.

“Oh yeah, there’s one more thing before I go…” he brings out what appeared to be a pamphlet from his pocket. “Would you like a Ronalphlet? It’s supposed to help you become aware of the dangers that threaten Beach–––“

The petite employee swiftly takes his brochure and looks over it. Her expression becomes stern with familiar irritation, and later she tears the piece of paper into two pieces. Peridot never opened the whole thing to read it nor did she even care to after tonight. Ronaldo’s facial emotion that he gave was mildly dissatisfied, but that’s what the employees have felt for the past 5 minutes or so with him. Irony was showered to some extent, and Ronaldo exited the door with his head facing down and walking hastily. 

The two girls watch him go out with relief, closing their eyes and exhaling what felt like near-death. But their attention gaped to the parking lot where they overheard the curly blonde uttering loudly about being an idiot of some sorts. Lapis walks over to the counter once again and felt compulsory to confront her partner. 

“Good job ripping his pamphlet.” She accolades. “Do you feel alright?”

“I think I should be the one asking you that, Laz...” Peridot replies tentatively. “…And thanks.”

They glance at the substandard scenery of the convenience store. Lapis grasps Peridot’s shoulder and lightly clutches it while sighing at full volume once again to relieve her stress. Peridot follows by exhaling herself. Their heads were face down and contemplating on the situation. It wasn’t like this was the first time this has happened anyway, but this was the first time it had happened in a while.  
Like what Lapis said earlier, it could be worse. Apparently this was as worse as it can get. They were in a convenience store that needed more or less cleaning, even though that was done earlier and before. 

The blue haired girl glanced blandly at the office door. “You think Pearl heard all this from her office?” Lapis asks.

“She would be outside to see us by now.” Peridot replies. “But look…” she then grasps the hand seizing her shoulder and gapes at Lapis. “you should just sit here for a bit and I will take care of this mess. It doesn’t look too much to clean anyway.” Peridot has a nonexistent radar that turns on whenever her partner is in some sort distress. It’s pretty much turned on all the time, but she knew that Lapis has been the one most forewarned and awake tonight. And she wanted to take her shifts this early.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to notify, Ronaldo is not exactly my least favorite character and I didn’t personally make him loathed here. But I thought his actions in this fic would probably add some tang and make things a little interesting??? Anyways, hopefully I’ll remember to update this series time to time.


	3. Small talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally break time for the two employees, and they choose to spend it outside the parking lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mkay, this was kind of fun chapter to write tbh. My schedule has been cluttered lately so it took me a hell of a while to finish this. Plus, writers block hit me for a while. Every moment in this chapter is sort of brief but it's by far the longest one too. I just hope you guys enjoy my writing and I'll be thinking of more stuff for this AU soon.

It’s already an hour and half into the nightshift, and there were already a lot of things to do for the two employees to cope.  
Peridot sauntered out of the counter and headed to the part of the store where it looked like a tsunami washed up half the precinct. It wasn’t too far from the counter, nor was it too easy to look at. Before she decided she was going to take the chance and clean everything up herself, she made sure Lapis was comforted and taking her rest after being provoked by Ronaldo. 

 

“Peridot, I don’t need to sit behind here. I feel calmer already” Lapis said fretfully. 

Peridot stared openly at her. “Nope. You need to relax perfectly. And besides, I can still see your fist clenched.” She said. “…You’ve been working harder than me all night and all I’ve been doing is sleeping on the job.”

“Yeah but it’s only been an hour.” Lapis spoke again. “We can just continue on with that we were doing before and stop making this a big deal.”

The petite employee sighed. “Look, Lapis, I know when my girlfriend is troubled and now is the right time for you to take my place.” Peridot said cordially. “Maybe if you just let me clean up instead, I’ll stop making this a ‘big deal’.”

Lapis turned her eyes to the opposite way and solely considers. Of course Peridot would act like this, and sure as hell she felt secure about her overprotectiveness. Maybe it was best to just let her go ahead anyway. “Well…okay then. I’ll rest.” She said.

“Good!” Peridot kissed her on the cheek and ambled out of the counter. Lapis watched her gait while grinning and telling herself not to blush the hundredth time from her needless caress. 

 

Peridot hums and drives her glasses up, trying to review the clutter. First thing she had to do was pull, or maybe push back the store shelf to stand up again. So she skulks to it and tries to NOT accidently step on a chip bag and pop it. The metallic shelf was now below her sight, also occupying a whole isle space to walk on as from what Peridot realizes. “Why the hell did that Fryman guy thought that this was a lever?” she thought.

Breathing in, she kneels down and puts her fingers underneath the downed shelf. Her limbs were now rising up along with the mantelpiece she was now carrying, and at the same time she was groaning high pitched. Gradually yet effectively, the shelf was back to standing up on its base. And Peridot had some parts of her hands paired to make sure it was not going to tumble. It looked like she had this power which was controlling the metal object. Then soon, it was finally upstretched and followed with a gasp. 

“You’re stronger than you look, Peri.” Lapis thinks.

Now there were the dispersed bags of snacks muddled here, there, and everywhere in the area. But before Peridot could pick up one of them, someone intruded. 

The two employees glance at Pearl’s office door that creaked and was opening gradually. Their manager was finally exiting her room and checking out what had happened, skulking and sticking her head out first. Then she gasps, terrified at looking at the dispersion. She quickly ambles out and panics frantic. “WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED HERE???” she exclaims.

“You mean you didn’t hear all the shouting and crashing from your office a while ago?” Lapis says cynically.

“Of course I heard that! That’s why I came out of my office.” Pearl replies.

“But why didn’t you come out sooner? We were nearly aggravated to death.” Peridot inquires.

“Enough of your questions you two…!” Pearl was amending her forehead and sighing frustrated. “Look just…one of you briefly explain to me what happened.”

Lapis chooses to do the explaining. “Well, an insane customer came in and thought this place WASN’T a convenience store, so he started trashing the place.”

Peridot slides into the clarifying. “But then she scared him off good. Now I’m cleaning up this mess.” 

The pink haired manager respires again in both anger and confusion. An insane customer? Scaring them off? Pearl needed more contexts after that but she did not want to ask right away. “I was really close to calling 911 until I heard Lapis stopped exclaiming …” Pearl expressed. “…At least both of you look okay. Is there anything else to report?”

The employees shook their heads. Pearl takes one last gape at the dispersed snacks, glasses, etc. and faces the office door. “Your breaks are in 6 minutes. I’m going to write a record about what happened after this is all done…” she says. The doorknob was stretched and she walks back inside without notifying anything else.

“She didn’t even bother asking if I needed help…” Peridot complains. “Oh well…Back to work.”

She grabs nearest chips named CHAPS and puts it on the shelf. And then another from the other side. She knew that this was going to be one hell of a tedious job the more she returned every chip bag continuously, until her hand was suddenly seized. She looks upwards and sees that Lapis got out of her seat in the counter and tried to stop the petite employee from doing HER job.

“I have a system here when I’m arranging shelves. You’re clearly doing this wrong.” She utters. “I’m not going to sit around watching you work Peri. Let’s just clean up together.”

“Alright…”

 

6 minutes later and it was time for the two girls’ breaks and the store was surprisingly spotless again. Well, almost spotless anyway…There were still Sunchip packs by the end of the shelf and six minutes of time wasn’t really enough to clean. But they could forget overtime and those could be sorted up afterwards. It was time to do whatever they pleased. 

“It’s 1:30 now. I’ll be outside.” Lapis realizes the break time and stands up. “Meet me there if you want.”

Peridot also rises from the isle and watches Lapis exit the store. The blue haired girl doesn’t amble too far from the entrance as she stops where they parked in the parking lot and lies beside the pickup truck. She doesn’t usually spend her breaks outdoors though, unless she just needed to smoke or something. But outdoors was something Peridot likewise needed after spending time inside a bright and quiet store. So she chooses to meet her outside. 

Minutes later, Lapis overhears the entrance opening from the door’s bell chime. She was confident and content to know that it was Peridot coming to meet her. She didn’t feel like spending 15 minutes in a parking lot alone anyway. Peridot stops beside her and offers a small cup of a French vanilla cappuccino to her girlfriend. “Here you go.” She says with the cup in front of her vision and was then taken. 

“This is like my 3rd cup of coffee by now, Peridot.” Lapis says.

Peridot leans on the truck beside her and then sips on her own cup of caffeine bliss. “It’s a cappuccino. They’re two different things.” Peridot says. “I know consuming too much caffeine is a little unhealthy, but it’s one way to keep us awake.”

It was quieter in the parking lot than it was in the convenience store, and also quite colder than the store too. Ventilation and static from the lightbulbs provided some sullen white noises. Meanwhile outside, there were crickets and light winds, and it took a while for any of the two girls to engage in some kind of conversation. This was more or less the perfect setting for Peridot to have a fetching conversation with her roommate. But what to talk about anyway? Probably something that isn’t too stubborn anything else awkward. 

A handful of silent minutes have passed and Peridot sipped her hot drink before engaging to express what she now wanted to inquire. “Hey uh, Lapis…” She says without gaping at her. “I don’t know if you mind me asking this but…Remember those times before we moved in together?”

“You mean like how we first met and everything after that?” Lapis asks?

“Mhm. Those were pleasant moments, right?”

“I guess? We were seniors and you were taller than me.” Lapis says and chuckles. “And even though we barely knew each other at the time, you sure asked me a lot of questions immediately like I was your informant…” she recalls.

“I was new in the school! The principal told me you knew more about the place than I did so we just saw each other right on the spot!” Peridot protests. 

“You weren’t really the most sociable type of person when we first met either.” Lapis says and Peridot replies with a grunt. 

 

Their relationship goes way back to when they were around their high school years or so. Lapis was a sophomore and was in the school’s former swim team, and Peridot was new and was bound to be the smartest girl in school sooner or later. Peridot was pretty analytical when she and Lapis met in the principal’s office and began a small tour of the facility. And as for Lapis, she was a bland conversationalist for a tour guide. Every classroom Peridot was introduced to, the blue haired girl would give little to no information about the quarters other than what it was called. It was supposed to be an easy job until Peridot inquired all the contents, space, breathability, possible dangers, etc. And not only was it pointless, it was frustrating.

Both of them once stopped into the gym where Lapis had her swimming practices. “This is the pool. It’s where I go to swim.” She said.

“Hmm, has there ever been an occurrence where someone has drowned here?”

“Please don’t let me answer that. I have no idea.”

“…How often do you come here to swim?” 

“I don’t know. Daily? Why do you care?”

Despite any blemishes, they were captivated by each other when the petite saw her future partner walk into the room and the other saw her seated nervously though. Lapis had the most impossible and stunning blue tresses that Peridot has never seen before. And for Lapis, Peridot’s blonde hair was just as immense as hers, and her freckles and glasses were just perfect blend adjacent to her dark green eyes. But appearances apart, nothing would really mesmerize them completely until they’ve spent the whole year together. 

 

“We somehow ended up being in the same class, too.” Lapis says. 

“I was pretty happy that we were together in the classroom.” Peridot says. “Well, I’m pretty sure you were in deep hell when that happened.”

“I was, but it’s obviously all good now.” Lapis downed her drink and began contemplating with Peridot. “But dang, it’s been a while now…I can’t remember what happened after that or how we even started hanging out.” 

“I can recall what happened…” Peridot remarks. “We share the same interest in watching Camp Pining Hearts, even back then. And a week after we met, you caught me streaming Season 5 on my own in the cafeteria, and you were pretty intrigued. But you weren’t so caught up on the show than I was so, I let you watch with me.”

“OH YEAH. Now those were good times. And then we became friends.” Lapis says engrossed. 

“Then we became BEST friends. And now, we’re dating and we live with each other!” Peridot acknowledges and both of them chuckle affably. 

Lapis and Peridot developed their relationship closer from that story. Both of them already stopped recollecting their moments, but the story still continues. Eventually, Peridot would come to every swimming competition Lapis had and would be one of her biggest supporters, Lapis would partake and Peridot’s art and learn to make fanart with her, and continue to bond until they realized how much they enjoyed their own company. It was a euphoric sensation when the two opposites, yet so alike, would meet up weekly and daily. And now they were in college and all grown up, romantically dating each other and live happily in an oversized apartment doing the same things they did during their sophomore year.

 

Lapis checked her phone and saw what time it was. She was enjoying her time in the parking lot with her petite partner, and luckily they still had enough time to be outside. She looks up into the black firmament and found that it was as clear as ever. No clouds were obscuring the sky to become a dark abyss, and the stars were finally out just like what Peridot said earlier coming here.  
She walks nearer to the tailgate of the pickup truck and puts her almost finished cappuccino cup inside. And then she proceeds to put herself in the trunk by hopping in. Peridot hears her huff and turns to gawk at her. 

“Lapis, what are you doing?” she inquires.

“Gonna go stargazing.” Lapis replies.

“On our truck?” Peridot asks. 

“Mhm. I’ll be lying down on the trunk.” Lapis says, already lying down on her back against the base. She gawks at Peridot who was watching her outside the truck, and then goes to extend her hand to her roommate. “Join me, Peri.” 

Peridot looks at her open grasp and grins lightly. She did not want to go stargazing since they were limited to how long they could watch the night sky. But anything for her blue haired girlfriend, and anything for spending time right. She clutches Lapis’ hand softly and climbs into the back of the pickup truck too. She was given some space to lie down beside one another and takes a few seconds to get cozy. Now it was just them and the pure night heavens. 

“I looked this up one time. Another name for the trunk of a pickup truck is called a ‘bed’” Peridot elucidates. 

Lapis chortles. “Huh, I wouldn’t mind putting a mattress here though.” she says. “Maybe we could put our TV on the tailgate edge too.”

“You’re a genius, Laz.” Peridot jestingly complements. 

“But I’m not a bigger dork than you are though.” Lapis teases and suddenly wraps her in her arms, wrangling the petite’s hair that causes her to squirm and chuckle. She sighs in relief and looks upwards, grasping the sensation of their circumstances. “This is what I need right now. A good ol’ break with my smol girlfriend.” 

Both of them try to identify which hemisphere were they facing from the truck. They were familiar with a bunch of constellations from both segments, and chiefly identified as Space Gays for their somewhat needless yet handy knowledge of stars. But tonight, all they could see were twinkling little dots connecting to nowhere. A star map could have been as convenient as their store to bring earlier. 

“All I can see is Andromeda.” Peridot says. “I don’t know anything else without my tablet.” 

“At least we found a galaxy.” Lapis says. “Do you just want to make up our own constellations?” 

“That’s hard work but, sure.” Peridot replies. She points her finger to reach the sky and tries to make her own game of connect the dots. If only she were an actual astronomer so she could officially declare any random assemblage as a constellation. “Hmm…That one looks like a…giant hand.” Peridot says still pointing. “It looks malevolent and maybe wants to land somewhere? I’d sure want to control something like that.” 

Lapis squints and tries to distinguish Peridot’s finding. “I…think I see it.” She says. “This one is mine. I’m sure you will recognize this.” Then she points her own hand into the sky and outlines the vague dots for Peridot to tell. 

“Is it your tattoo?” Peridot inquires.

“Yep. I knew you would figure it out quickly.”

Lapis’ tattoo was located on her back. It was below her neck, right in between her shoulders, and literally just at the center of her back. It resembled a big tear drop but had a shining lighting that made it look more like a gem instead. Peridot thought it looked amazing the first time she saw it, and by now she has seen it numerous times for multiple reasons why. Lapis had planned on putting something really extra like putting wings coming out of the gem. That would really astonish Peridot for sure.

 

12 minutes have passed from their break now, and there was definitely not much time left either. The two girls had enjoyed their break outside in the parking lot in their pickup truck, having some small talk and pointing at random stars. If they thought about it, this was the best shift break they had in a while. Peridot relished the grasp of Lapis’ arm enfolding her body as they laid down on a cold tailgate. And the blue haired girl adored listening to her blonde partner chatter about nerdy stuff or stories of their past. This was exactly how they wanted everything to be…Bonding, caring for each other, and not worrying about anything at all.

One last question popped inside Peridot’s mind and needed to be answered.

“Lapis…” she says. “Have you once thought of leaving me alone…? As in if you were angry, would you just run off and never see me again…?”

Lapis felt some uneasiness hearing that. Of course her heart would break terribly, but this just proved how concerned both of them had to be.  
“Even if I could, I would never leave you out of a sight. I love you too much for that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry for being slow at updating my dudes. at this point, all my works and chapters are becoming a monthly thing...  
> I wish I could make room for more backstories of Lapis and Peridot and maybe some other extra stuff, but something is making me mangled in confusion. I'm still improving how to make chapter stories too.


	4. Tension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been slightly exhausting myself with this one. Not only have I been keeping up with this story, but I also had to squeeze in my uprising education and house errands. But either way, I put some more effort onto this chapter and it was pretty interesting to write. I assure you that I’ve also been writing other works than this one which was why it took slightly long to update again…

The two girls wandered back shortly from the parking lot and into the entrance, reverting to the mind-numbing convenience store. With all decency from the only two nightshift employees, it would not kill Pearl to give them a longer break time.  
How was it that fair to work 6-7 hours for the whole night and get breaks that barely surpass how long their periods are? Peridot and Lapis have enough grievances to fill up a couple pages on a novel. But they learned that any severe complaints on the store in front of Pearl can lead to instigating saltiness. And they’ve learned it the hard way many times before.

The bell chime rang on the door and the employees stopped right in the spot. Peridot removed her glasses and rubbed them tiringly, affected by the bright ceiling lights to some extent.

“Nghh... I think I almost fell asleep in the trunk…” she expresses.

“Is that why I had to carry you half way here?” Lapis asks.

“Yes…” 

“Yeah, I almost did too.” Lapis says and yawns just by thinking of her own fatigue. “Maybe we shouldn’t have chosen to spend those 16 minutes outside…And next time you’ll be the one carrying me by the way.”

“No problem...” Peridot replies lightly. 

They went back to their former positions in the store and traced their steps back to where they left off, so to speak. Lapis was finishing restocking the isle that she and Peridot left empty previously. And Peridot was behind the cashier again, placing her arms crossed on the counter and laying her head on top as well to rest a little. Who knows what Pearl would be doing in her office, but hopefully she would not have to interview one of the employees to scrutinize any customer related incidents. 

 

Lapis then gawks at the counter after finishing sorting out some shelves. She caught Peridot fallen asleep all of a sudden, which was just about expected. And she doesn’t attempt to wake her up like she was required to. She just stares at her for a while with a warm grin until yawning and stretching herself the second time. “Jeez, what did I even do earlier…?” she utters tiredly. Consuming high doses of caffeine tonight wasn’t helping at all for the two girls.

Peri was not the only one who needed to pass out in this hour. Lapis decides to amble to the back of the store and take a chair often used as a stepping stool. She then returns to enter behind the counter and puts the seat beside her somnolent partner, finding some room to lay on the large countertop. The blue haired girl sits down while attempting to unwind the same way the blonde was already doing. She exhales deeply, and the way she was lying down made her glance at Peridot’s endearingly sluggish complexion. 

Her forehead was in plain sight like always. Lapis then moves closer to her partner and gradually kisses that area of her face. Peridot’s forehead was where she liked to be kissed the most. It comforted her serenely and made her feel more wanted, and the moment Lapis caressed her made the petite girl moan contently and bring out the warmest grin in her sleep. Lapis flushes without hiding her eloquence and brings out her own equally warm smile. Gosh, she was so lucky to have the most adorable girlfriend in the world who was both working and living with her. As fatigue was getting the best of everyone’s mind, Lapis enfolds Peridot’s body around her arm and makes her intimate to each other. “Goodnight, dear.” 

Who cares if they were going to get in lots of trouble for sleeping on the job? This felt so much better than working. Soo, so much better…

 

1 HOUR LATER

 

The entrance opens. But the door chime does not wake up the STILL snoozing employees. Either that or it was Lapis’ snoring that prevented the chime from being heard. Heck, even her snoring did not wake Peridot up though. The customer who just walked in merely examines the place until catching the people who worked here soundly asleep. She walks up to the counter and tries to think of a way to inquire their presence without making it awkward. 

“…Um, excuse me. Is this place open…?” the customer soon asks. 

Finally, Peridot becomes the first one to wake up. She opens her eyes slightly and turns her pupils to realize where she was. Lapis was passed out beside her and was wrapped by her arm, but she didn’t know exactly why. She soon saw the customer beside her and was instantly getting right up and working from fright. 

“OH, SHIT IM SORRY UH–––” Peridot panics and chafing her face while lightly shaking Lapis awake. “––Lapis, wake up!” 

The blue haired girl was stirring awake and realizes the situation. “Wait, what….? OH …” She quivers and suddenly coughing and panicking when seeing the customer. Hopefully she hadn’t seen them cuddled up on the counter earlier…Oh who was she kidding? Of course she probably did…But next her face was beginning to glow as she walked out of the counter. What’s worse though was the fact that they might have ignored a bunch of other patrons in their sleep, too. “Damn it, Lapis……” she whispers personally. 

The customer, short in stature and dressed in a dark jacket matching her maroon shirt, along with her hair being short and brightly blonde, both took humor and misfortune to the two employees waking up. She understood that they were just taking a little rest from their jobs and she modestly waited for them until she could inquire what she wanted.

“I’m very sorry that we were absent from your needs…” Peridot apologizes in a difficult tone. 

The customer chuckles in a considerate manner. “Its fine, you don’t have to be.” She says, her voice was in height and courteous. “I’m just here to ask if you happen to have any donuts here. This store seems to be the only one open on this hour and I got to return to my friends quickly.”

“Why yes, we do have some donuts.” Peridot replies and points to a location. “I think they’re in that small container next to that one ice cream freezer over there. You can go ahead and help yourself to a box.”

She looks over to the course. “Oh, thanks!”

The straw-colored customer was walking to the circular pastries and grabbed an open box to put a variety of them inside. Lapis happened to be in that same area when she ran out of the counter and stopped in a random precinct. She was staring at the customer a little bit and was surprised that someone could be an adolescent who’s shorter than Peridot and the same height as Steven. Or maybe that was just exaggeration. She was glancing at her face and realized that she happened to be wearing red eye liner…only it WASN’T eye liner. 

“Is that…lipstick under your eyes?” Lapis asks.

“…Yeah, it is. It’s kinda been a gimmick for me with my band, which I know is pretty stupid anyway.”

Lapis briefly spots some kind of I.D. under her jacket and finally gets her name. The name of the customer was ‘Sadie Miller’. And the I.D. looked like she got it from some sort of club or convention. This girl really was a singer in a band, and maybe a really popular one too. Lapis wondered though what music did she play though. And more importantly, what event was being held in 3 in the morning?

“What genre do you perform with your band?” she inquires. 

Sadie just finished choosing her donut selection and closed the container holding them. “Oh uh, we mostly do Ska music and occasionally move to Lo-fi. I think that’s what their called anyway.” She replies. “Have you ever heard of Sadie Killer and the Suspects?” 

“I think I have.” Lapis discloses. “Maybe somewhere on the internet I’ve seen this one video called “working dead”. I suppose you were that girl singing, huh?” 

“Yep. And then my friends nicknamed me Sadie Killer instead of Miller.” 

“Oh. Well, I hope you get back to your band quickly after this.” Lapis says. 

“Hey, thanks…“ Sadie squints and tries to read the name on Lapis’ nametag. “…‘Lapis’. I’ll remember you in case I come back here again.” 

That was new. Someone wanted to remember one of the employees name? And for whatever tangible reason why, Lapis did not care. It was flattering for once, and hopefully she would get to remember Peridot, too. 

 

The box containing dozens of donuts was soon submitted in the counter for Peridot to look over and tell the payment. As she inspected, she took a passing glance at Sadie and noticed a bushed expression forming as she waited. 

“You know, Lapis and I may be pretty tired tonight, but you look kind of exhausted over there.” Peridot admits. 

Sadie yawns and then goes to explain. “Well, I’ve been up since five hours ago. You wouldn’t believe how much boredom I had to go through just by waiting for a couple people to meetup.” Sadie says.

Peridot chortles a little. “Well I know a thing or two about boredom.” She says. “Ever worked for customer service during midnight?”

“As a matter of fact, yeah.” Sadie replies. “I used to work in the Big Donut daily until I quit one day. I had this……‘other friend’…who kinda left me without any notice. And all of a sudden I had to work all the shifts without any help.”

“That’s cold.” The petite employee says intrigued. 

“Tell me about it……So Lapis over there is your girlfriend right?” Sadie asks. Peridot assertively nods and the customer proceeds. “Well you two are pretty lucky to be together and not drive each other insane here. And honestly, you provide better customer service than I did back in my old job.”

“Well that’s the first time we’ve heard that.” Lapis comments delighted from the other side. 

The donut price was checked and Sadie therefore pays for them briefly before stopping on the exit with her box of circular glazed dough. “Thanks again for the donuts!” she says.

“No problem. Come back to the store any time and have a good day!” Peridot replies obligated to let the customer out with that message. Sadie left off, and the store was finally occupied with only the two employees. To be honest, she was one of the only kindest people to ever enter the store next to Steven. Rarely did they even get to communicate with some eccentric customer from the entrance. But they shouldn’t get too attached like they were already with Steven. A lot of customers will still come in to merely aggravate Lapis and Peridot again.

 

No one was paying attention to the time anymore. There may or may not have been a reasonable amount of customers who came in the store already, but thankfully there was nothing as far as this to be exasperating but instead just a good amount of nothingness.

Pearl arose out of her office to mandatorily examine the nature of the store. The two employees were together by the sides of the counter and tried their best to look as awake as possible and seem busy in their positions. The rose haired boss was ambling around the spaces of each isle and hoping that there was no sign of impairment or lack of positive changes, and continuously asked Lapis and Peridot their progress since the beginning of the night. 

“Hmm…” the manager purrs and scribbles stuff on her required clipboard for cliché managers. “Well, looks like everything seems to be in order again...But before I go back in, are you sure you two haven’t been sleeping on the job again?” she inquires.

“Nope.” Both employees lie mildly at the same time.

“And is there nothing else to report about any troubling etiquettes in the store?”

“Other than the tedium of waiting for customers?” Peridot mocks. The manager squints and grunts, making the blonde worker laugh hesitantly.

“I’ve just been cleaning up everything on the shelves. And no customers have been annoying the crap out of us now. That’s about it.” Lapis says. 

“Good. And watch your language, Lapis.” Pearl says and writes more niceties. “Okay…It’s good to know how you two can still work just fine despite your tardiness. Otherwise, this place would be a nightmare.”

Peridot slightly inches over to Lapis and goes closer to her ear. “As if this job wasn’t already nightmarish enough…” she whispers and high-fives her girlfriend. Pearl was too busy looking on her paperwork to even notice their contempt. As the review of the store was finally ending, Pearl resolves to go back to her office again and keeps the recent report. 

“Oh, yes how I could I forget to say this…?” she suddenly says before entering. “Even though that Fry-naldo person came in and nearly ruined the store, you two should be way more careful next time. And maybe be a little gentle when meeting new customers, too…Okay, keep up the good work you guys!” she says gleefully and leaves the area. 

 

Since the store was already in good shape by now, Lapis allowed herself to still sit next to Peridot behind the counter and manage customer amenity there. Both of them were thankfully stirred awake this time yet they were using their energy to slack off more. Peridot was checking stuff on her phone which was probably just rounds of fanart and shitposts, while Lapis snatched a magazine from the display on the counter and read whatever content was in it. 

“What are you reading there?” Peridot inquires.

“Marine Biology.” Lapis replies. “Looking at this makes me want to steal the ocean.” 

 

Tranquility stayed apparent desirously. But yet another customer has come inside and seized the attention of the workers from doing anything else for now. The new customer looked pretty innocent at first glance. Not too bizarre like Ronaldo and not too classy like Sadie, but she was peculiar in her own way.

“There sure are a lot of short people coming to the store tonight.” Lapis thinks out loud yet quietly.

“Can 5 year olds dye their hair like that?” Peridot inquires the same way.

The two employees gape at each other. “I guess we should just be easy with her. Just like what Pearl said.” Lapis suggests and Peridot nods.

They emitted a sigh and gawked at the customer, who was apparently also looking back at them harmlessly. Normally the two girls would try NOT to put some effort into being jubilant to a customer’s presence. But they guess they had to try anyway since they nearly let Sadie be overlooked, and Pearl no longer had the need to fire them anymore. And besides, this did not seem like a risky situation to be faced with. 

“Um, what can we help you with?” Lapis warily asks.

“...What items does this store provide?” the customer asks, revealing a British falsetto voice. 

“Convenience store stuff?” Peridot answers. “There are plenty of chips and beverages to go around. Just think of it like a grocery if it were toned down to minimum stockpiles.” 

The patron suddenly shuts her eyes and exhales frustratingly. “Of course. I finally find the only store open tonight and I get badly elaborated information for my only request...” She subtly complains but was loud enough to be heard and take dreadful offense by Peridot. “…No matter. I’ll probably still get only one thing that I want.” The patron then walks closer to the counter and tries to envision a shopping list in her head to remember what she was here for.

“I think I’ll just get some orange juice for now. I suppose you don’t happen to have some in this establishment?” 

“We have a bunch of them in one of those freezers, miss.” Lapis says tryingly sociable. 

“No, please don’t ever call me “miss”” the patron vulgarly comments. “My name is “Aquamarine”. Now doesn’t that sound more consummate than some plain old pronoun? Anyways, thank you for your directions.” 

Right off the bat, Lapis and Peridot did not like who they were faced with this time, and they should give up now on making an effort to be attentive. Aquamarine managed to insult two of the employees in seconds. That’s a new fucking record for them.  
“Let’s see how long we last with this one.” Peridot says ominously.

 

Aquamarine was only getting deafeningly vulgar since she walked away from the counter. “Augh…Look at this dump. I can definitely run a better place than this” she was heard.” She uttered. That would’ve affronted Pearl if she could hear it. She found her way to the fridges holding all the variety of beverages and helps herself to getting some orange juice with pulp.

“Who the hell would want pulp in their juice?” Lapis and Peridot thought revoltingly. 

The cyan haired patron ambles back to the counter for it to be paid. Of course by then, this would be the last of when she will ever be faced with the employees. And Lapis goes ahead to the price check instead of Peridot.

“Okay. That’ll be 4 dollars.” she says. 

Suddenly, Aquamarine was feeling herself fuming. “Wait––What do you mean four?!” she exclaims. 

“I don’t know. The juice is just four dollars.” Lapis replies.

“Besides, look at how big the bottle is. You got the expensive kind.” Peridot adds.

“But this is the only brand you imbeciles seem to have! The only thing next to it some kind of canned apple cider.” Aquamarine complains. “I demand one of you to decrease the price this instant!” 

Peridot squints and stirred backwards slightly from shock, also quite offended for being yelled at along with Lapis. “Hey! How dare you tell us to give you some kind of discount!” she counters. “Just who do you think you are?” 

“I already told you my name before. But how about you show some respect and stop messing up your job, especially when you’re towards someone like me!” Aquamarine protests, yet ironically she was the one messing up their work.

“Why, did you graduate preschool yesterday?” Lapis mocks, causing Peridot to snicker a little.

“I’m 19 years old!!” the patron replies more furious. Huh, she was the same age as Peridot apparently.

A dispute against some bottled drink was sometimes a normal occurrence in the store, but this was just flat out ridiculous to become this brash. Peridot wished she had a solution to drive this small and somewhat egocentric patron away. But she guessed that all she could now do was just waiting until either of them becomes the most frustrated and quit.

“Okay…”Aquamarine”, was it?” Peridot says. “Look, let’s try not to make hard for either of us.”

“Then why don’t you just follow what I’m telling you to do?!” she replies.

“I don’t know…” Peridot takes off her glasses and scours her eyes from the exhaustion being radiated from this quarrel. “Maybe because you aren’t paying already?!”

Lapis, having the same amount of worry that the petite girl had, was already feeling uneasy with yet another problematic scene. She goes behind her girlfriend to hold her shoulders and try comforting her in some way. She perceived Peridot growling a little bit from her tenseness. Or maybe that was Aquamarine. Or both. But one thing for sure was that she did not want her girlfriend to suffer the same situation she did.

“Peridot, you’re tense.” Lapis says. “C’mon, let me take care of this for a while.” Hence Peridot suddenly and evenly agrees and steps aside. 

Now it was a soon-to-be clash with two people with dyed manes. Aquamarine was staring at Lapis sternly and clearly trying to intimidate her. But she was equally feeling disordered with Lapis’ neutral appearance with her. The blue haired employee was beginning to speak. “…We can’t just give you what you want here. We have a policy, like any other store that tells you that we can’t do that.” 

“Well I DON’T want to follow that policy. And I especially hate wasting my precious time with a bunch of cynical girls!” Aquamarine replies.

“Can’t you at least just tell us why you’re not paying your things? And better yet, why not just wait until morning to find a place with more drinks?” Lapis inquires.

Truth is, the cyan haired customer did not have the correct amount of payment brought. But instead of simply telling that, Aquamarine crosses her arms and turns her head to the other side, expecting them to figure out why.  
“Pshh. And I thought your crony was the most unbearable one here…” she utters. “I guess some people just can’t bear to understand how common decency works. Unlike me, who I’m the definitely the most normal in this dump….”

Where on earth was this miniscule girl coming from? She has only met the two employees for barely half the night and she has poignantly been the one who was most indecent in the store. She was even worse than Ronaldo and any other provoking customer they were ever faced with. 

Lapis was grasping all the insults taken in one sentence, shifting her facial look from calmative to fuming when her eyes widened hard. “Are you fucking serious…!” Lapis says stern. “I’m sorry…I can’t take that’s enough.”

She swiftly grabs the orange juice bottle and puts it behind the counter. “You wouldn’t now decency if it hit you right in the damn face you ungrateful piece of….!” she exclaims. Eventually her right arm raised and hand formed into a fist, aiming directly right into Aquamarine’s face. But she was thankfully stopped by Peridot when she clutched her hand.  
“Woah Lapis, now you’re the one who’s tense...” she utters exceedingly. 

Aquamarine was feeling unnecessarily nauseous for not being taken earnestly so far. “What a bunch of time wasters…” she says to herself. Suddenly, she jumps high up, appearing like she flew with inexistent wings and landing loudly on the counter. She stunned Lapis and Peridot and rapidly snatches the juice out of the taller girl’s hand. Then the whole situation began to freeze.

“How hard is it to understand that I want this simple order to be over with??? If none of you are going to stop acting like a bunch of scalawags, I’LL JUST HAVE TO TAKE THIS ITEM AND LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!” Aquamarine exclaims like some whiney child and raises the bottle upwards. Without a doubt, this was a confusing and frightening moment for the two employees. 

But somehow this miracle came thankfully in the right instance of time. Pearl’s office door opened faster than light and exposed a frantic, postured pink-haired manager. Everyone by the counter gawked at her while looking equally hysterical and disorganized. 

“What is going on here?!” Pearl then asks. 

Lapis and Peridot were glancing at each other and nod assertive, thinking the same and evident thing. “SHE’S TRYING TO SHOPLIFT US!” they both exclaim while pointing at Aquamarine.

Pearl was now paying direct attention to the short customer and narrows her eyes. Aquamarine became visibly tense, thinking to herself to run as quickly as she can to the exit. And hence she initiates to…She gasps and sprints to the door with the juice bottle still clutched in her hand. But her escape plan suddenly fails to exist as Pearl manages to become aware and run faster than her, then grabbing her behind the torso. Aquamarine was squealing and struggling like an insect stuck in fly paper. And shortly after, the manager was seizing her hand and in some way takes the drink away from her grasp cogently. She was ready to talk some sense into this unacquainted customer, but her one clutch on her torso was let go off when she felt petite hands fiddle with it and Aquamarine ran off. 

The girls behind the counter had watched all that exploit in implausible shock. No one in the store now had the senses to stop the cyan-haired customer from escaping further. But Peridot stretched her physique out and expressed crossly. “Yeah! Get lost you self-absorbed clod!!” 

 

Pearl turned to the counter and walks up to her exhausted workmates. “Are you two alright?” she inquires. 

“Not exactly…” Lapis replies sounding dejected. “Let’s just say we’ve been having quite a night so far…”

“You can say that again…” Pearl says and sighs deeply. “I don’t how we’re getting all these insane customers in a manner of speaking.”

“Well, at least you came out in time to save us.” Lapis says ironically. Pearl looks at her chuckling and then rubs her eyes. 

The manager puts the juice bottle back to the fridge and promised yet again to come back out for another report briefing, maybe something else too since she’s finally starting to grasp what life was like behind the counter.  
Lapis was lying down against the wall instead of nesting her head on the counter. Peridot was still in her working stance and position, only she was facing the direction of her girlfriend instead of the whole precinct. Lapis’ short temper has been going way off, but it was a relief that it looked like she was falling asleep. She may be suffering tangibly tonight, but Peridot draining emotionally with apprehension and stress.

“Sleep tight, Lapis. I’ll make sure no one bothers you this time...” Peridot assures. But she knew she couldn’t just keep promises that she wasn’t sure she would keep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh, since that I’m currently a prick with mild writers block atm, I’m wondering if you guys have anything in mind for me to put in this story. I mean like characters, scenarios, ya’ll could just request anything (and someone please help me think of a good name for the store). I think it’d be fun. My tumblr is @blue-flashbang if you want to request me there. I hope you dudes enjoyed reading again!

**Author's Note:**

> if my best friend reads this; hope you enjoyed! and this is what your random idea lead to and thank you.


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